Victory-class Battleship
]] The Imperial Navy's powerful Victory''-class Battleship''' is suspected to be a modified ''Retribution''-class Battleship. In its internal layout, the Victory-class greatly resembles the Retribution-class. It is possible that this design is the product of grafting Lance weapons systems onto a Retribution template in an attempt to replicate the successful ''Apocalypse''-class Battleship by replacing its broadside Macrobatteries and prow torpedo tubes with Lance batteries and a Nova Cannon. The Tech-priests of Mars refuse all requests for access to their records by historians of the Imperial Navy, so the origin of this class remains unclear, though one vessel, the Conqueror, is known to have particularly distinguished itself during the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium to bring the Emperor's light to the galaxy after the end of the Age of Strife. When Hive Fleet Behemoth, the first major Tyranid Hive Fleet, encountered the Imperium of Man in 745.M41, four Victory-class Battleships met the threat of the Great Devourer -- the Victory, Argus, Conqueror, and Hammer of Scaro. Notable Victory-class Battleships *'''''Argus - A notable Victory-class vessel, the Argus was one of four such vessels that met the Tyranid threat of Hive Fleet Behemoth head-on during the First Tyrannic War in 745.M41. *''Conqueror'' - A notable Victory-class vessel, the Conqueror was one of four such vessels that met the Tyranid threat of Hive Fleet Behemoth head-on during the First Tyrannic War in 745.M41. The Conqueror had a long, proud pedigree that stretched back over ten millennia, having particularly distinguished itself during the Great Crusade to bring the Emperor's light to the galaxy after the end of the Age of Strife. The Conqueror led the Imperial Expeditionary Fleet that cleansed the Stabulo System of the deviants that polluted the Segmentum Tempestus at that time. *''Hammer of Scaro'' - A notable Victory-class vessel, the Hammer of Scaro was one of four such vessels that met the Tyranid threat of Hive Fleet Behemoth head-on during the First Tyrannic War in 745.M41. The Hammer of Scaro was rebuilt with prow torpedoes instead of its Nova Cannon after receiving severe damage ramming the Ork Space Hulk Gungedrinka at the Battle of Lexus. Legion vessel, Tribune]] *''Tribune'' - The Tribune was born in the orbital yards of Inwit in the years after the coming of the Emperor when the Inwit Tech-wrights built ten Battle Barges as tribute to the Emperor and in honour of Rogal Dorn's command of the VIIth Legion. The Tribune and its nine sisters were variants of the Victory-class and all displayed the hand of Inwit's weapon-craft and mentality woven into their fabric. Heavily armed and armoured, it was a ship made to give and take damage in the thick of a battle line, its design and precise configuration honed by decades of the Legion's experience in void combat, and communication and command systems woven into its structure that showed the intent that the Tribune and its sisters would lead the Imperial Fists in their later conquests. The Tribune served as the flagship of Fleetmaster Alexis Polux at the Battle of Phall. She was destroyed in action against the Iron Warriors' battle barge the Contrador at the very climax of that devastating fleet confrontation. The Tribune is listed as participating in over three hundred major fleet engagements and countless smaller clashes throughout more than a century of war. The Tribune's long and glorious service came to a fiery end when Fleetmaster Polux was forced into the desperate measure of sacrificing her to escape the Iron Warriors' attack at Phall with as many of his Imperial Fists and crew as possible. Drawing the mighty Contrador into a boarding action that saw the Tribune overwhelmed by the vengeful sons of Perturabo, Polux led his own sally, hundreds of his warriors crossing over to the Contrador to take her intact even as the Tribune floundered. Even before the Contrador was taken, the Mechanicum Enginseers left on board the Tribune enacted the Fleetmaster's final command, overloading her plasma reactors and destroying herself, the bold defenders who remained to draw the enemy, and hundreds of Iron Warriors. Though a terrible loss, the Tribune's sacrifice allowed thousands to escape that they might serve their Primarch and the Emperor another day, adding crucial numbers to the defence of Terra. *''Victory'' - A notable Victory-class vessel and the first of the class, the Victory was one of four such vessels that met the Tyranid threat of Hive Fleet Behemoth head-on during the First Tyrannic War in 745.M41. Sources *''Battlefleet Gothic Magazine'' 2, "D'aynes Fighting Ships of Segmentum Tempestus - Battlefleet Bakka," pg. 37 *''The Horus Heresy - Book Three: Extermination'' by Alan Bligh, pp. 52, 54-55, 62 ES:Acorazado clase Victoria Category:V Category:Battleships Category:Imperial Navy Category:Imperial Spacecraft Category:Imperium Category:Spacecraft